tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762075.post8669878148035252653..comments2024-03-27T13:28:50.405-07:00Comments on Alienated in Vancouver: Conspiracies and curses: the Blue Öyster Cult's The Symbol Remains, reviewed track-by-trackAllan MacInnishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05394301776870727673noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762075.post-40924458542148734912023-03-07T09:38:04.972-08:002023-03-07T09:38:04.972-08:00Clearly I'm not as big a fan as you but BOC ho...Clearly I'm not as big a fan as you but BOC hold a special place in my heart and I saw them a number of times back when I was in High School and college during the Fires of Unknown Origin Era. And hearing Hot Rails and ETI live altered my understanding of what live rock could do for the better (being a punk kid). Anyway, I'm listening to "The Symbol Remains" and enjoying it and since I like to dig in the dirt when it comes to music I love thank you for writing this. Hard to find good info on these guys so I'm grateful to you for doing it. Cheers, and happy listening... KGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03642722242236504256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762075.post-22713192381175071842020-10-28T15:17:29.001-07:002020-10-28T15:17:29.001-07:00After checking out the capitalized words;
Freehol...After checking out the capitalized words; <br />Freehold, Trenton, (this was the only one I was familiar with), Princeton Junction & Metuchen, I realized these were all actual places in the State of New Jersey. The boys hail from nearby, Long Island. It’s a combination, semi-allegorical train/love/quest song, nothing cryptic or deeply Black & White period-like, (still, my favourite era), at least from my perspective. <br />Most of the lyrics suggest a journey...initially becoming obsessive;<br />“Sprung from the ward<br />Steel brainpan, pity pity”<br /><br />Later, seeking spiritual support;<br />“I spent a long year<br />Dancing up and down the aisle <br />Pestering my saviour just to<br />Let me see your smile <br /><br />The salesman was drunk <br />My training shot to the fore<br />I put my shoulder in his gut<br />And knocked his samples to the floor”<br /><br />During the final stanza, just before he reaches his goal, suggests he’s <br />found a state of personal balance or so-called normalcy...most have paid, the price?<br />“The Princeton Junction depot<br />Is straight known to be staid<br />They wear hounds-tooth and khaki <br />Most have already paid”<br /><br />Once she gets a-rollin’, I hear a nod to the classic Yardbirds’ boggie rocker, Train Kept A-Rollin’,(all night long), also thematically referencing their own, Hot Rails to Hell. The guy’s had a few & lonely, (going to a honky tonk jukebox saloon...Four Winds Bar/Astronomy), recalling a certain female...so he hits the rails, (literally/figuratively, Train True), looking for (love)/her or self love. Lennie, (or perhaps, Lenore, his quest & a nod to Poe?), or it may be the actual name of the song’s protagonist? The Lenore reference would be in keeping with BOC’s long standing tradition of ironic paradox, combined in darkly, shrouded ambiguity.<br /><br />Train True<br /><br />Train:<br />noun: Public transport provided by a line of railway cars coupled together and drawn by a locomotive.<br />noun: A series of consequences wrought by an event. <br />noun: A sequentially ordered set of things or events or ideas which each successive member is related to the preceding.<br /><br />>>>Train could also be a reference to heroin use...tracks, although the song’s opening line states;<br />“Well, I was standing on the tracks on a midnight blue trying to remember where I left my shoes and in a natural way, my thoughts returned to you”<br /><br />“I started working for the train when I was looking for you.”<br /><br />True: <br />noun: Proper alignment; the property possessed by something that is in correct or proper alignment. <br />adjective: Devoted (sometimes fanatically) to a cause or concept or truth. <br /><br />“But when that engine starts pumping those familiar tones <br />I don’t care where the train is going cause I’m already home”<br />- He’s found himself <br /><br />The rest of the stanzas, the referenced locations & final destination, finding (love), her/himself, tell the storey. There’s an intentional, allegorical switching between reality, including various definitions of the songs title. Perhaps there’s a deeper allegory, but this is what I detect.<br /><br />“Feelings, feelings, are somewhat symptomatic of societal abrasions that conform electric static”.<br /><br />- Sounds like life’s emotional cause & effect...love<br /><br />Listening to it the second time, Buck’s vocals are really impressive...although he’s lost some of that smooth, upper register, he sounds better than ever! This isn’t an easy one to get your voice around...lots of fast paced, tongue twisting turns, including some scatty, mumbo-jumbo.King'o'Cupshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17363483587560664969noreply@blogger.com